Implications for practice and research

▪ Public health nurses (PHNs) can play a significant role in identifying and treating postpartum depression.

▪ The results obtained in this demonstration project suggest the need for a larger, randomised controlled trial.

Context

This study focuses on postpartum depression, a problem that has lasting negative effects on children of affected mothers.1 The authors note that in Norway, postpartum mental health is inadequately addressed, thus postpartum depression is underidentified
as well as undertreated. To improve the postpartum care provided by PHNs, the authors describe a programme in which standard
care is reshaped to include a mental health perspective.

Methods

This study compares the frequency and severity of depressive symptoms and parenting stress among postpartum women in two convenience
samples: (1) a municipality implementing standard PHN postpartum care …